The present invention relates, in general, to electrical power service apparatus and, particularly, to electrical watthour meter and meter socket installations and, even more particularly, to watthour meter socket adapters which mount a plug-in watthour meter in a meter socket.
Electrical power is supplied to an individual site or service by external electrical power line conductors located above or below ground. In a conventional arrangement, electrical power line conductors are connected to contacts in a watthour meter socket mounted on a building wall. Electrical load conductors are connected to another set of contacts in the socket and extend to the electrical distribution network in the building. A watthour meter is plugged into the contacts in the meter socket to measure the electric power drawn through the load conductors.
Due to the increased use of plug-in watthour meters, socket adapters have been devised which convert A-base type bottom connected watthour meter sockets to receive plug-in watthour meters. Another type of socket adapter has been devised which allows the installation of other devices between the watthour meter socket and a plug-in watthour meter Such watthour meter socket adapters have also been provided with power disconnect devices, such as circuit breakers or ground fault circuit interrupters, both for protecting the electrical service as well as, in certain applications, to limit the amount of power supplied to the site. Such power disconnect devices may include an elongated plunger coupled to the on/off switch on the power disconnect device. The end of the plunger extends outwardly through an opening in the sidewall of the socket adapter when the circuit breaker is in the open or power disconnected position. The exposed end of the plunger can be pushed inward through the sidewall of the watthour meter socket adapter to close the circuit breaker and to reapply power to the site. In certain of these devices, the ends of the plungers extending through the sidewall of the adapter have been colored red for high visibility of a tripped or open condition of the circuit breaker, etc.
Safety shields have also been devised which mount in the socket adapter housing over the jaw contacts. Such shields have apertures aligned with the jaw contacts to allow the blade terminals of an electrical power service device, such as a watthour meter, to extend through the shield and into engagement with the jaw contacts. The shield covers all exposed portions of the jaw contacts and other electrical conducting elements in the socket adapter to prevent inadvertent contact by the service person when the watthour meter is disconnected from the jaw contacts.
Previously devised electrical power service apparatus with internally mounted power switching devices, such as circuit breakers or ground fault circuit interrupters, have space problems when it is desirable to employ a safety shield in such adapters. Some power disconnect devices have a cubical shape with, when in a normal mounting position within the adapter housing, a height greater than the width. This places the on/off rocker switch mounted on the front surface of the power disconnect device and the front surface itself a considerable distance from the back wall or base of the socket adapter. When a safety shield is mounted over the jaw contacts and the power disconnect device, the safety shield can be in an interference position with the back wall of the watthour meter. To avoid such interference, portions of the safety shield are cut away to enable full insertion of the watthour meter blade terminals into the jaw contacts in the meter socket. However, this sacrifices the full shielding capabilities of the shield by exposing portions of the conducting elements of the socket adapter, thereby rendering a safety shield less effective in isolating the electrical power conducting components in the socket adapter from the installer.
It is also known to add connecting members to a power switch or power disconnect switch mounted in a socket adapter housing which couples the pivotal rock on/off rocker switch on the front surface of the power disconnect switch to a linearly movable shaft or plunger, a portion of which extends through an opening in the sidewall of the socket adapter housing. This provides external manipulation of the on/off switch of the power disconnect to reconnect electric power after a disconnection or to manually disconnect power from the service site. While the plunger has proven effective at providing an external on and off capability for a power switch mounted in a socket adapter housing, it is believed that a more robust and easily used design is desirable.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an electrical power service apparatus which includes a power disconnect device which overcomes the problems of similar previously devised apparatus. It would also be desirable to provide an electrical power surface apparatus which has a compact mounting of a power disconnect device and a safety shield to permit installation of a watthour meter into engagement with the adapter jaw contacts without modification to the safety shield and at the same time, providing a robust and easy to use external actuation of the power disconnect device.